Supporters of the University of Colorado student accused of fatally stabbing a fellow student over the weekend have accused the crowdfunding website GoFundMe of bias after it shut down a campaign for the defendant's bond money and legal fees.

Ian Scheuermann, 22, stands accused of stabbing Sean Hudson, 26, around 2 a.m. Saturday at Broadway and Walnut Street in downtown Boulder. Prosecutors are expected to file charges later this week, and they have indicated that Scheuermann could face a first-degree murder charge.

Hudson

The Boulder native and CU junior now sits in the Boulder County Jail on a $100,000 bond, and has hired private defense. To offset those costs, Scheuermann's family launched a campaign on GoFundMe Monday afternoon. It raised more than $4,000 within three hours, but was taken down by the site early Tuesday morning.

The removal is consistent with company policy to "not allow campaigns that benefit individuals or groups facing formal charges or claims of serious violations of the law."

Scheuermann's longtime friend John Sherry took issue with the policy.

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"They operate on a philosophy that a citizen is guilty until proven innocent," Sherry said. "In the legal system, Ian is not guilty. It's unfortunate that GoFundMe took down a page because they already have determined the verdict for him before the court system."

The company, which eclipsed Kickstarter last year as the world's largest crowdfunding platform, has found itself in the middle of such thorny situations before. It drew widespread criticism, for example, for hosting a campaign in support of the Ferguson, Mo., police officer who killed Michael Brown, then hosted a fund for the South Carolina officer who killed Walter Scott.

Several prominent discriminatory causes have also found homes on GoFundMe, notably including an Indiana pizza restaurant that said it would refuse to serve gay customers — and then raked in nearly $1 million from donors.

In April, the company announced an amendment to its "What's Not Allowed" section of its terms. Banned thenceforth: "campaigns in defense of formal charges or claims of heinous crimes, violent, hateful, sexual or discriminatory acts."

Meanwhile, the site continues to benefit Hudson's family, which used GoFundMe to raise close to $22,000 to bring his body home to Indiana, and to host a funeral.

Gary Morland, Hudson's uncle, described the family's grief.

"The first day was the worst day ever," he said. "And I'd say that for the first couple days after that, Sean's mom and all her sisters would just call each other and they would cry. They'd cry and say, 'I love you,' and hang up."

It appears that the case may hinge upon whether Scheuermann, who friends say as an Eagle Scout carries a pocketknife by habit, was acting in self-defense. But Morland said the family isn't concerned with motive at the moment.

"I don't think they're really thinking about that," Morland said. "I think that complicates it, but they're not talking about those kinds of things in terms of anyone else or in terms of Ian. They're not really talking about culpability stuff. They're just dealing with personal grief, not anger."

A source close to Scheuermann's family — his parents declined to comment on Monday — said those closest to the suspect are also experiencing profound grief, and view both him and Hudson as victims in the case. The stated bias of GoFundMe against criminal defendants is particularly troubling, the source said.

"The GoFundMe was really just a way for friends and family members who feel helpless to feel like they're helping and making the situation slightly easier on the family," Sherry added. "I think it's cowardly of them to remove the page, but I understand it's good for PR."

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